Dell’s benefit plans for its employees are designed to maintain and enhance employee productivity and further Dell’s operational goals. The plans, which vary by region, are designed to assist employees and their families in planning and providing for major life events, such as illness, disability, retirement and death.
In addition to benefit plans, our Well at Dell programs to support the health and well-being of our employees and their spouses or domestic partners (if covered by medical benefits). Well at Dell supports employee health, assists with managing health conditions, reduces health risks and helps to maintain healthy lifestyles.
While offerings may vary by region, examples of Well at Dell activities include the following:
- on-site fitness or wellness centers, where employees can exercise or receive preventive health information
- voluntary employee health screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol, breast and prostate cancer
- health and wellness educational seminars, with topics such as smoking cessation, nutrition and exercise, and disease prevention
- employee and community events such as blood drives and home safety fairs
- seasonal flu vaccines for employees and family members
- opportunities to improve health and reduce out-of-pocket medical insurance costs through participation in targeted health improvement programs
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We have chosen to highlight our efforts regarding HIV/AIDS.HIV/AIDS
The HIV/AIDS pandemic affects Dell employees, customers, supplier partners and communities where we live and work. At Dell we recognize the health and business impacts of the spread of HIV and believe that our corporate accountability standards commit us to do our part to fight the spread of this disease. This section reviews our internal HIV/AIDS strategy. Information on our HIV/AIDS community grants and involvement is covered in the “HIV/AIDS” section on page 73.
Our Strategy
We investigated where our employee population is based and compared that information to various regions’ benefits coverage programs and predicted growth in the number of infections.
This analysis showed three countries with the greatest number of employees were the U.S., India and China. With plans to grow our headcount in India, our team settled on the U.S. and India as priority countries for the HIV/AIDS prevention strategy. Roughly half of Dell’s global employee base is based in these two countries. With this priority in place, in 2007 the company will test new programs in these countries.
Figure 11 illustrates Dell's HIV/AIDS program objectives.
Our HIV/AIDS Team
A cross-functional team representing several Dell business units sets HIV/AIDS policy and objectives for Dell. This team, with its representatives from Sustainable Business, Human Resources, Global Diversity, Public Affairs, and Employee Communications, provides us with the multiple perspectives that we need to craft a plan that addresses cultural, gender, and regional-specific HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment issues.
Dell’s HIV/AIDS Program Objectives
Dell's policy on HIV/AIDS covers four key areas:
- Fight discrimination: No Dell employee is harassed or discriminated against due to real or perceived HIV/AIDS infection.
- Provide reliable information: All Dell employees worldwide should have reliable information about HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention.
- Encourage testing and prevention: Dell employees should have access to annual health screenings and confidential testing and referrals.
- Advocate for fair treatment: Continue to partner with other multinational corporations to share best practices and leverage existing resources to provide affordable business solutions that improve the health and productivity of employees outside the U.S.
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Constraints of the Global Benefits Environment
In 2006, Dell analysed coverage of HIV/AIDS treatments through employee benefits in every country where Dell resides. Fortunately, more than half of Dell employees worldwide have health benefits that include HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. In many markets where Dell operates (specifically, the European Union, Canada, and Japan), government or mandated programs provide HIV treatment.
However, we realize that we will face cost and insurance delivery challenges at some Dell sites, particularly in India and China. Employee coverage in these markets varies greatly because of the fear of high costs for treatment and because the disease remains a taboo subject. In fact, these countries do not currently offer any HIV insurance coverage to date. Dell is working with the Global Business Coalition (GBC) to identify reputable HIV/AIDS resources and services in these countries.
Dell includes HIV treatment coverage for employees in new call center in Manila, Philippines. Dell will continue to investigate ways to extend this coverage to facilities in new markets as our business grows.
Technology and HIV/AIDS, a Public-Private Partnership
In 2006, Dell joined the Technology and HIV/AIDS working group to develop concrete concepts for public-private partnerships around technology and HIV/AIDS. The group, referred to as IT PPP — for information technology public- private partnership — consists of a diverse group of representatives from the information technology (IT) industry, the U.S. government, and other multinational organizations. The organization is convened in part by the U.S. State Department’s Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator, and the GBC.
Inside the working group, Dell participates on a project team that is examining the potential to share workplace training and engagement programs on HIV with supply chain partners and other large employers who may not have workplace programs. The working group intends to test the concept, ideally within the coming year, in a selected market, such as India.
Dell recognizes the opportunity to greatly extend its successful workplace program against HIV/AIDS with other companies in its supply chain, including business partners and subsidiaries. By leveraging the HIV/AIDS programs that large companies and NGO partners have already developed, smaller companies within the supply chain can offer their own HIV/AIDS programs.
Achievements in HIV/AIDS Prevention
This past year, Dell has furthered its internal HIV/AIDS program and has made the following achievements to date:
- Offered on-site health screenings and referrals to testing resources at all U.S. locations with more than 200 employees.
- Continued to support the AIDS Orphan House in Shanghai with donations of employee time, books, children's toys and money
- Held the HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy and Practices Dialogue with ICCR in March, 2006 and follow up in September to present the highlights from Dell's report on its effort to fight HIV/AIDS.
- Made HIV/AIDS information available online through the U.S. Wellness and Health Improvement Portal (WebMD).
- Published HIV/AIDS educational information internally at Dell in conjunction with World AIDS Day.
- Held employee seminars on HIV awareness and prevention with the Malaysian AIDS Foundation in Singapore
- Participated in the HIV/AIDS Work Group of the Global Health Benefits Institute (GHBI) to provide treatment benefits for HIV/AIDS patients in countries whose health programs do not cover the disease
- Held the HIV/AIDS Workplace Policy and Practices Dialogue in March, 2006 to present the highlights from Dell’s report on its efforts to fight HIV/AIDS.
- Surveyed our existing coverage of HIV/AIDS treatments through employee benefits in countries in which Dell resides. More than half of Dell employees worldwide have benefits that include some form of HIV/AIDS treatment.
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Fiscal Year 2008 Priorities
Figure 12 outlines our HIV/AIDS priorities for fiscal year 2008.
FIGURE 12: FISCAL YEAR 2008 HIV/AIDS PRIORITIES
| Topic | Description |
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| Access to Treatment | Work with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business partners to address the challenge of providing access to HIV/AIDS treatment options in countries where health plans do not cover the treatment. |
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| Ethical Behavior | Instituted 100 percent Compliance training; held numerous training courses and awareness. |
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| Best Practices | Develop benchmarks and share best practices with other multinational corporations through the Global Health Benefits Institute. Focus on innovations that offer affordable solutions to HIV/AIDS treatment. |
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| Dell Global | Continue recognizing World Aids Day with Dell employees, and establish HIV/AIDS awareness events in conjunction with national health observances where possible.
Expand prevention and awareness programs in Dell are offered. Make prevention and referral information available through e-mail and telephone hotlines at Dell’s sites in India.
Continue participating with GBC and the Technology and HIV working group. Pursue working group project to test expansion of workplace programs in India by February 2008.
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| Dell U.S. | Continue to engage with HIV-service organizations in Dell communities in the U.S. and Canada.
Investigate with Central Texas HIV-service organizations and local governments the potential expansion of community and employee engagements on HIV that may serve as models for other communities in which Dell has a presence.
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